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15" Wire Wheels - 72 Poke vs 60 Spoke

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15" Wire Wheels - 72 Poke vs 60 Spoke
#1
  This topic is about my 1969 MG MGB GT
pjr98 Avatar
pjr98 Gold Member Paul S
Fair Oaks, CA, USA   USA
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1969 MG MGB GT "Cliff"
I see both 72 spoke and 60 spoke offered in the 15" wire wheels.

Besides the obvious (number of spokes), is there an advantage or disadvantage to more or fewer spokes? Is it merely an aesthetic choice?

I see that the 72 spoke is 15" x 5" and the 60 spoke is 15" x 4.5".


"The graveyard is full of indispensable men" - Winston Churchill

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Re: 15" Wire Wheels - 72 Poke vs 60 Spoke
#2
gchait Avatar
gchait Greg Chait
Tybee Island, GA, USA   USA
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2001 BMW Z3
Isn't the wheel stronger with more spokes? Feels that way on the road.

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Re: 15" Wire Wheels - 72 Poke vs 60 Spoke
#3
Bakataka Avatar
Bakataka John Poulsen
Langford, BC, Canada   CAN
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1970 MG MGB MkII "James"
IIRC from cycling; more spokes = less tension = a more compliant(comfortable) ride + extra rotational mass(remember cycling = weight weenies).
Therefore I would suspect that less spokes = more tension = less compliant(stiffer) ride + less rotational mass.
There may be other factors such as strength which in cycling comes from the gauge of spoke diameter. You can build an equally strong wheel using more or less spokes(up to a point) by changing up spoke diameter.
I'm sure some wheelsmiths may correct me on this if I'm incorrect.


There’s no such thing as coincidences; just unrealized connections.

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Re: 15" Wire Wheels - 72 Poke vs 60 Spoke
#4
ClayJ Avatar
ClayJ Silver Member Clay Johnston
Mt. Olive, MS, USA   USA
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1972 MG MGB
From a purely visual perspective, the 60 spoke might look a bit more "Classic".

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Re: 15" Wire Wheels - 72 Poke vs 60 Spoke
#5
DocDup1 Avatar
DocDup1 Richard Watson
Carmel, CA, USA   USA
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1965 Chevrolet Corvette
1967 Chevrolet Corvette
1967 MG MGB GT
1967 Triumph TR4A    & more
I chose 72 spoke wires for my TR4A because they are available in slightly wider sizes. By going to the 5.5 inch wheels, I found a lot more choices in terms of tires. If you look at Tire Rack, you will see a chart that compares all of the dimensions for every tire brand in a given size. I was amazed at how many choices there are that will fit these cars.

Rich

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Re: 15" Wire Wheels - 72 Poke vs 60 Spoke
#6
Steve S Avatar
Steve S
Abingdon, So Cal, USA   USA
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1925 Ford Model T
1937 MG SA Saloon
1939 Ford V8
1946 Other Not Listed    & more
The main difference is purely visual. On the upside 72 spoke is much stronger, and on the downside they are heavier and a lot harder to clean. Being heavier and stiffer, I've found that they also ride a lot harder on bumpy roads. That's comparing stock 14x4.5x60 wheels to 15x5.5x72 heavy duty, with 185/70R14 versus 195/60R15.

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Re: 15" Wire Wheels - 72 Poke vs 60 Spoke
#7
dkretzer Avatar
dkretzer Dan Kretzer
Western, MA, USA   USA
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In reply to # 4571562 by Steve S The main difference is purely visual. On the upside 72 spoke is much stronger, and on the downside they are heavier and a lot harder to clean. Being heavier and stiffer, I've found that they also ride a lot harder on bumpy roads. That's comparing stock 14x4.5x60 wheels to 15x5.5x72 heavy duty, with 185/70R14 versus 195/60R15.

I would expect in your comparison at least, that the tire section height contributes as well.
A truer test would have to be 15” wheels with 60 & 72 spokes and similar tires.

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Re: 15" Wire Wheels - 72 Poke vs 60 Spoke
#8
Steve S Avatar
Steve S
Abingdon, So Cal, USA   USA
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1925 Ford Model T
1937 MG SA Saloon
1939 Ford V8
1946 Other Not Listed    & more
Yes, the 60 profile tires make a difference. Some of that difference is negated by the wider tread but they do have a firmer ride. That said, the difference between the tire profiles is far less than the difference between the wheels. The larger heavy duty wheels are 44 lbs per corner, all in. Hitting a bump is a much harder hit with them than with stock wheels regardless of tires.

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Re: 15" Wire Wheels - 72 Poke vs 60 Spoke
#9
Wal Avatar
Wal Silver Member Wal Parnel
Austin, USA   USA
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1972 MG MGB "Covida"
Remember my old mga had 60s, needed tuning of course. Going fast around corners could feel them snap back right after turn, like they were somehow rubber….lol

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Re: 15" Wire Wheels - 72 Poke vs 60 Spoke
#10
dkretzer Avatar
dkretzer Dan Kretzer
Western, MA, USA   USA
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Yes that’s a lot of weight per corner and a contributing factor as well.

I’ve only owned one B with wires, they were new 14” 60 spoke and looked great, but I’ll never forget the day I bolted on a set of 15” Saab (Ronal) “minilites” on a roadster in place of Rostyles. It felt like the car had a more modern suspension. The lighter tire & wheel combo was a revelation!

Today’s B has Rostyles. Not light, hard to balance, but I like the look on a Mk III.

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Re: 15" Wire Wheels - 72 Poke vs 60 Spoke
#11
SusanvilleJim Avatar
SusanvilleJim Jim McCarthy
Susanville, CA, USA   USA
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1964 MG MGB
1965 MG MGB
1967 Triumph TR4A
Just went through this when I found my old 15 wheels were severely rusted inside from water getting around the valve stem. MGA might look better with older style width and tread but on my B I chose 185's see picture. I posted a lot and the consensus was to get new painted 5.5 wheels. My old 15's were acually only 4.5. This was a recent post. Have fun and ggod luck. I went with a more modern tread design and rubber compound. JIm


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about 1 year and 7 months later...
Re: 15" Wire Wheels - 72 Poke vs 60 Spoke
#12
GT Girl Avatar
GT Girl M Armstrong
Halfmoon Bay, BC, Canada   CAN
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1974 MG MGB GT "THe TT"
I myself am battling the wheel topic. Im dealing with 14's not 15s but the 72 spoke on the 14's are 15.5 not 15's. Not sure about this on the 15 inch though.

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Re: 15" Wire Wheels - 72 Poke vs 60 Spoke
#13
64MGBTourer Avatar
64MGBTourer Gold Member Ken Fritz
Sacramento, CA, USA   USA
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1931 Ford Model A
1959 Jaguar XK150
1964 MG MGB MkI
1973 Ford Courier    & more
I put 72 spoke 15" wheels on my early '63 B and love them. The speedo wasn't accurate anyway, so no loss there. The only downside? Cleaning them is more work. Vredestein Sprint Classic tyres 185R. Good handling, smooth ride, and good looking.

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Re: 15" Wire Wheels - 72 Poke vs 60 Spoke
#14
favedave Avatar
favedave David Church
Saint Joseph, MO, USA   USA
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1967 MG MGB GT "Marilyn"
1967 MG MGB GT "Marilyn"
1995 Ford Probe "The Probe"
1995 Ford Probe
This is my car with 15" 60 spoke "Austin Healey 3000" wheels. and its transition to 15"X 7"- with 72 center laced stainless steel spokes.


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Re: 15" Wire Wheels - 72 Poke vs 60 Spoke
#15
rrikola Avatar
rrikola Platinum Member Robert Ikola
Santa Maria, CA, USA   USA
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1966 MG MGB
15x60 spokes, in my opinion, loos better, clean easier, are lighter and are plenty strong. Running 175x60 series tires gives you the proper rolling diameter to keep your speedometer correct. Looks very correct but with better handling and much better tire selection. Good day.

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